Ten years after writing thedefinitive and international bestselling book on political debate and messaging, George Lakoff returns with new strategies about how to frame today’s essential issues.

Called the “father of framing” by the New York Times, Lakoff explains how framing is about ideas—ideas that come before policy, ideas that make sense of facts, ideas that are proactive instead of reactive, ideas that are positive instead of negative, and ideas that need to be communicated out loud every day in public.

The tenth anniversary edition of Don’t Think of an Elephant! picks up where the original book left off—delving deeper into how framing works, how framing has evolved in the past decade, how to speak to people who harbor elements of both progressive and conservative worldviews, how to counter propaganda and slogans, and more.

In this updated and expanded edition, Lakoff urges progressives to go beyond the typical laundry list of facts, policies, and programs and present a clear moral vision to the country—one that is traditionally American and can become a guidepost for developing compassionate, effective policy that upholds citizens’ well-being and freedom.

Listener Opinions

Sara Tanenbaum | 2/14/2014

" This book contains interesting ideas about how to frame issues from a progressive point-of-view. The biggest concern that I had with the book is that he bases nearly all his advice on the idea that the basic difference between liberals and conservatives are how they think about the family. However, he never tries to prove this. Without knowing whether to believe his basic premise, it is hard to know how much stock to put in the advice that follows from that premise. "

Amethyst | 2/7/2014

" EXTREMELY useful and informative, plus short and sweet. A great rhetorical analysis of how Republicans took control of the political debate over the last 15 years or so, and clear, cogent and intelligent ideas about how to take control of a rhetorical situation by framing the debate. "

Anika | 2/5/2014

" It's essential to understand the way we and they look at power structures and identify with politics. Though Lakoff didn't give me much hope for the future of communications between conservatives and liberals. "

Tiffany Holbrook | 2/3/2014

" This book helped me finally discover what truly makes liberals and conversatives tick. I now understand that my conservative friends are not crazy, they just come from a different moral viewpoint. I highly recommend for anyone during this political season. "

Tom | 1/16/2014

" Sort of slim. Really, an essay between covers. Nevertheless underscores the reality of the inability of the intellectual left to make their worthy ideas accessible to the common person. "

Sandra Clark | 1/14/2014

" This is a must read. You must have read this book, and you should probably be re-reading it by now! ;) "

Phoebe | 12/22/2013

" Not exactly revolutionary now, but if you work in politics, progressive advocacy, communications, or just hate how the conservative right has taken over the debate, read this book. "

Bridget | 12/19/2013

" I FAR preferred "The Political Mind". "

Paul Chippendale | 11/29/2013

" Great book, introduced me to frames-of-meaning. I now include frames-of-meaning concepts in all my workshops--see my summary. "

Alison | 11/21/2013

" This book has a political tone obviously, but it is a great book to illustrate how language is used to frame our thinking. After reading it I became much more aware of the subconscience influence.... "

Libby | 9/22/2013

" lost points because it's a repetitive collection of essays/articles. Did get me to think a lot about 'responsibility' and 'care' "

Crystal | 8/24/2013

" Very good for understanding how political debates shape thoughts and then manipulate people. "

Tori | 3/21/2013

" This is a quick-and-dirty rundown of why conservatives have been so successful in the last few decades. I think there are deeper explanations, but the discussion of framing is spot-on. The book starts out strong and peters out, but the first few chapters are powerful and clearly written. "

Seth | 2/16/2013

" this is a good book that every progressive, liberal democrat should read. at least the first essay, the rest is kind of repetative. "

Kevin | 12/14/2012

" How we got to the mess we are in "

Tyler Smith | 6/21/2012

" That I want to study linguistics for the benefit of righteous causes. "

Bill | 10/19/2011

" Conservatives have stolen America from Americans; I want it back. "

Ryan | 10/15/2011

" This book has some great insight and is really well written. It is a compilation of essays, and some of them are a bit repetitive. "

Jimmy | 9/17/2011

" This book should be read by all progressives, and or democrats to better understand the republican party "

Henry | 7/31/2011

" I cant believe how badly written it is, and badly formatted and generally submerges it's valid insights under too much verbiage. "

Alejandro | 5/12/2011

" Very good and simple breakdown on political message framing. "

Gerad | 3/29/2011

" There are some very interesting points made here, but this a series of essays pulled from different sources so the whole thing gets very redundant.
"

Alex | 2/19/2011

" An awesome intro to the role of language in politics but a bit simple/redundant if you're expecting one of his more fleshed out books.
"

Doug | 12/15/2010

" I enjoyed this book, but lakoff gets repetitive, which is a bit surprising given how short the book is. But that also means you don't have to put up with the repetitiveness for long...

Either way, Lakoff has a lot of interesting insights on the framing of liberal political goals.
"

Philip | 11/14/2010

" A good introduction to the concept of framing, but most of the meat is in the first few chapters
"

Michelleparada531 | 11/8/2010

" Don't pay heed to the title too much....this book is an insight for anyone along any part of the political spectrum. It really gets you thinking about how language is used and manipulated, often times without you really being aware of its happening.
"

Lisa | 10/25/2010

" I wish he'd edited the lectures he combines here for one streamlined rant, as it's a really good one.
"

Peter | 10/18/2010

" A concise book offering a very interesting way too look at the progressive v. conservative debate in the United States and an explanation of why liberals are having such a hard time of it.
"

Henry | 9/6/2010

" I cant believe how badly written it is, and badly formatted and generally submerges it's valid insights under too much verbiage.
"

Cybild | 8/29/2010

" This is a great book for anyone critical of the way Progressives do political messaging. Lots of messaging tips, things about the Right that are terrifying, but that everyone should know anyway, and some proselytizing by Lakeoff which I could probably have done without.
"

David | 8/14/2010

" Lots of interesting ideas in a short book with a high information density. Very informally written, and you must be able to put up with Lakoff's insufferable, smug self-righteousness.
"

Greg | 7/16/2010

" Like all of Lakoff's work, definitely some of the best Democratic political insight out there.
"

Raquel | 5/24/2010

" An interesting thought exercise, and I liked his clear definition of the logic of progressive values, but ultimately his premise of family models translating into politics is not convincing.
"

Dagnew | 5/16/2010

" The 'framing' of issues is of great importance - and "conservatives" (who believe in conserving their money, but little else, BTW) are way better at it than progressives.
"

Other Titles by George Lakoff:

About the Author

George Lakoff is an American cognitive linguist best known for his thesis that lives of individuals are influenced by the central metaphors used to explain complex phenomena. He has written several works on mathematics, politics, and language, including Metaphors We Live By,which introduced his metaphor thesis. He is a professor of linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 1972.

About the Narrator

Chris Sorensen is
the AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator of Brian Lies’ Bats at the Beach, Colum McCann’s Let the Great World Spin, and Margaret
Peterson Haddix’s Sent. Other
narrations include Patricia Wood’s Lottery
and Jodi Picoult’s Songs of the
Humpback Whale, among many others.

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